I have experience with all HA weapons except the EM1 for NC. I have to say, I find the GD-22S my favorite all-around of the bunch. But if I'm needing a little extra range for (medium to medium-long) encounters I grab the Guass SAW every time. It has AMAZING stopping power. The recoil can be mitigated a bit through certs and makes it even better. And after a bit of practice my muscle memory allows me to be even more effective with it. And when you pick your battles with this particular weapon it's really hard to be stopped. Just saying.. I hear a lot of NC complaining about our HA weapons, especially the SAW. I think they're all fantastic. Well, except that f'ing Jackhammer. I want my Station Cash back for that one.
its not that the gaus saw is bad, its that its not very good without a heavy cert investment, and even then is a specialized (I.E. not all rounder) weapon. its a great gun, but it shouldnt be our default weapon. something like the em6 should be.
What do you mean by *heavy* cert investment? The SAW doesn't have much horizontal recoil so you can skip the forward grip. With a compensator (100 certs) and your favorite scope (30 certs, I prefer the 2x reflex) you get a significant improvment for 130 certs. Well I kind of agree. For the player new to PS2 or shooters in general I would agree. For people who know and understand burst fire, ADS targeting, etc.. I think it's a fine starting weapon. NC are all about putting a little extra mustard on each shot. The SAW is a fine example of just that.
The problem is that the T9 and Orion are a certain kind of LMG that caters to newer players, and the Gauss Saw is a gun that is very hard for newer players to use but very effective for different reasons. SOE needs to refund every NC player 100 certs and make the GD-22 the NC starter weapon, since it is similar to the Carv.
Ease of use. It's much easier to spray with the Carv or to never mind recoil with the orion. The Gauss actually requires some degree of skill instead of "Imma hold down the trigger and watch stuff die". It's just as effective, just a little more difficult and requires a little trigger discipline.
imo you want hv rounds too so theres another 100 a little extra mustard is fine but it performing at polar opposites of the spectrum in terms of its area of use vs the other two starting HA lmg's is a problem. its vertical recoil is beastly tho lol.
basically the nc have to spend alot of certs in every class to get the same functionality as default VS and TR weapons
I agree. I love the ''feel'' of the SAW and I do fairly good with it... But when it comes down to it the Orion and CARV (for CQC and Medium range respectively) are better standard guns. It's no ''disaster'' weapon or anything though. But it's less spray friendly and needs certs to be on the same level as the others. A slight nudge in the form of a minor (trust me you'll feel ANY buff instantly) to simply up the general TTK would go a loooooong way in my opinion... Lately I've been facing higher level NC Heavies with modified SAWS who wreak havoc, but there you go; modified. The same player probably wouldn't have to CERT half of that in an orion or carv to have the same results. If you need to burst with the SAW due to insane recoil (you don't atm, but just imagine) that's all fine... but then it needs to do more damage. It'd still be the hardest gun to use, but worth it and keep the ''faction idea'' in mind a bit... We don't need another CARV or Orion, but something that says NC AND kicks ***. But that's from a n00bs perspective.
While an infiltrator has to cert heavily to get the same FUNCTIONALITY as default VS/TR sniper rifles, I would say the NC default sniper rifle is still better than either of them. Why SOE decided to give all the factions unique weapons as the defaults is a mystery, but it happened. Personally I'm glad the Gauss SAW was the default at least for launch. NC faction is the high precision burst fire headshot type, the one veterans play with a high accuracy requirement and its not friendly to new players at all, so having the most unfriendly to new players weapon as the default is GREAT for telling them "This is not the faction you are looking for *jedi mind trick*". I mean by comparison, the CARV requires at least some skill to shoot and the Orion is just run and gun fullauto, so it really succeeds at separating the playerbase into the proper factions according to their own level of shooter experience.
This seriously isn't true. Go look at the actual stats. NC is the "do a little more damage at the cost of everything else" faction.
This seriously isn't true. Go look at the actual stats. NC has the highest precision on early shots with a greater PER BULLET recoil/bloom rate. Except NC weapons also fire slower than other factions, so PER BULLET results in less overall spread for the first couple of shots. With the best first bullet accuracy of any other guns and spikey recoil that must be controlled, it's an ideal faction for precision burst fire veterans, not fullauto spamming COD kiddies. The weapons act in the same manner as similar weapons in old school shooters, and the Gauss SAW can be likened to operating as an AK47 does. Doing "a little more damage" goes a much longer way when nailing the head repeatedly. Any CounterStrike or Quake players would know the value of a well placed headshot in TTK reduction, and for NC weapons the first shot is practically guaranteed to go where you're aiming. You're not finding a problem with weapon balance, you're finding a problem with the twitch mechanic. That affects every class or loadout using slow ROF weapons. It's an SOE issue rather than a factional imbalance issue.
The Gauss SAW ******* owns and that's all. Anyone that says it is a crap gun is a turd of a player and has absolutely no idea what they are doing. I would not trade my SAW for an Orion or Carv even if that trade came with free SOE fun bucks. The SAW is amazing.
Good luck with that while your aim is bouncing around from impacts. And the damage really isnt much higher. But keep spouting ego padder. No one is impressed that you were alive before 2006.
i wouldnt say that, Orion is pretty awesome, and all TR should be using the Carv-S as that thing is quite good
yep, SAW is only on par when you're heavily certed in, then it'll start rewarding you back... but a stock SAW will get you killed if not careful
Started playing NC on a diff server and I'm enjoying the SAW. Can't wait to get the advanced grip & comp. The min damage is actually higher than the max damage on my CARV and at a further range, so I've been avoiding mid-range firefights, but go for bit longer range (nothing "far") and pretty close. Yeah it has more kick but I find myself getting lots of assists especially now and if I fire first I win 1vs1. Only thing I'm wondering is how come the NC scopes aren't Yellow or Blue but Red? (from what I have so far) I'm sure there's an environment color on color issue but just seems odd.
I *have* used the orion a fair good deal, and I'm very thankful that I don't anymore! It's a 50 ammo gun with extreme rate of fire. I spent more time reloading than firing, and that's assuming I had ammo left (250 total bullets) Compare that to the pulsar LSW or the sva88, both are 8% slower, but extremely accurate (in different situations), at 75/375, or the polaris vx29 at 16% slower, while being the most accurate fully automatic thing damn thing under the sun, modded I'll take my slow gun any day! pulsar LSW is 100 certs, which with a scope, is the same cost you have to pay, to get a foregrip+scope
